Falling in Love With Hermione Granger
by WillowQuill6
Summary: When Hermione announces that she is going steady with another man, Fred finds himself becoming jealous. Will his persistence pay off in the end? Fred/Hermione
1. Chapter 1

Hermione Granger was not one to suffer from nerves. As she sat at her desk, she put one leg over the other, smoothed out her skirt and spoke into her intercom,

"Send him in."

The door opened, revealing one of the most dashing men Hermione had ever laid eyes on. He was tall, with dark hair that splayed in all directions. He smiled, and Hermione had to kick herself in the leg to remember that he was a client, not someone she was supposed to drool over. The girl composed herself and smiled politely at the man.

"I believe you must be Hermione Granger?" He spoke with a deep voice, one Hermione knew she would never tire of. She nodded, gesturing for him to sit at the cushy chair on the other side of her desk.

"You must be William Barnaby, then, how can I help you?"

"Oh, Will, please."

Five years had passed since the end of The War. Hermione, now twenty-two, had found herself a career in marketing, having worked at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes for the first three years out of Hogwarts. The man sitting across from her had sent an owl a week prior to their meeting. William Barnaby had just moved back to England, after spending three years abroad, and was planning to start up a business in Diagon Alley. He claimed however, that after hearing her reputation, he would never succeed in doing so without her help.

Their meeting lasted little over an hour, and after thanking her, Will offered to take her out for drinks that night, as a thank you. Since finishing her studies, Hermione had become one to let herself go slightly more- not so that she was a completely different person, but she certainly knew how to have fun. She politely accepted, they arranged for him to pick her up at her apartment at 7 o' clock- Her apartment that she shared with one Fred Weasley.

Fred had narrowly escaped death during The War, having been comatose for many enduring months after a wall fell on him. Since that time, his twin, George, had married Alicia Spinnet and had moved out of the flat they shared. When Hermione had a row with her parents and needed a place to stay, Fred offered her the spare room, and she had been living there ever since.

Hermione arrived back at the flat at 5 o'clock, giving her plenty of time to ready herself for the evening. As she entered, she pulled off her coat and hung it on the coat rack next to the door, yelling out to see if Fred had already arrived.

"In here!" She smiled, there was always something comforting about his voice. She followed it into the living room to find him sprawled across the couch reading Witch Weekly. She raised her eyebrow.

"What are you doing with Witch Weekly?" He looked up from over the magazine with a devilish grin on his face.

"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies." Hermione rolled her eyes- he always used that excuse whenever she found him doing something unusual, although, she supposed finding him with Witch Weekly was more on the tame side of things for Fred. She sat down on the end of the couch, pulling her magazine out of Fred's hands as she did so.

"Listen, Fred. I'm going out tonight. You'll have to fix dinner yourself, I don't know what time I'll be home, okay?" She snapped her fingers in front of his face, as it seemed he had zoned out and was gazing at her with a dazed expression upon his face. He raised his eyebrow and smirked.

"Going out? Who with?"

"A client I met today. He wants to thank me for my efforts."

"He! Oh, do tell!" He sat leapt upright, crossed his legs and rested his chin on his hands with feigned interest on his face. Hermione pushed his face away.

"It's nothing like that. Besides, I could do with getting out of here. It seems all I do these days is work or stay at home, I never have an excuse to go out anywhere in a long time."

Fred frowned. Is that how she really felt? He would have thought a girl like Hermione would be asked out by every bloke at the office! Whether they actually did or not and she had just turned them down, he did not know, she didn't speak much of her work. He had to fix this, he couldn't let Hermione feel unhappy. But she was already going out with someone tonight. He hadn't even met the guy and he knew he wasn't good enough for her.

"Fred?" Fred snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at Hermione.

"You said something?"

"I said I'm going to go get ready, don't wait up." And with that, she left the room. Fred slumped back into the couch. Was he feeling… jealous? He had never experienced that on any previous times Hermione told him she was going out to meet someone. He buried his head in the couch, groaning loudly, praying to god that Hermione hadn't heard him do so.

Fred awoke the next morning to the sweet voice of Hermione.

"Good morning sunshine, sleep well?" she said as he stumbled into the kitchen to make himself a coffee. He had had a restless sleep, he couldn't tear his thoughts away from the thought of what Hermione was up to. He had almost stopped her going, if only that girl wasn't so strong that she easily released herself from the grip he had around her legs, practically dragging him through the door with her. Nevertheless, she assured him that it was just harmless fun, a thank you for her help.

"Ngggh." Was all Fred could manage as he dragged his feet along the floor, scratching his head and yawning. Hermione walked over behind him as he poured himself a coffee and kissed him on the cheek.

"Nice to see you too, dear." Hermione smiled at him, then proceeded to sit down at the table and butter her toast. Fred walked over and sat opposite, giving her a quizzical stare.

"You're awfully happy this morning?" he said finally. Hermione shrugged.

"I suppose I'm just happy that I had a night out, it has been a long time since I last had some fun."

Fred frowned. He was sure there was something more to it that Hermione wasn't letting on.

"Let me take you out."

Hermione dropped her toast in surprise, the butter knife clattering to the ground.

"Why would you want to do that, Fred?" This time it was Fred's turn to shrug.

"You seem to have had fun last night, why not let me have the pleasure of making you have fun again?" He sipped his coffee, not breaking his stare with her over the top of his mug. Hermione frowned.

"That's, that's very sweet of you Fred but… uh… William is taking me out to dinner on Friday. It might, how should I put this… give a bad impression if I go out with you so soon after agreeing to go on a date with him."

Fred raised his eyebrow, trying to seem nonchalant.

"A date? Well, if that's what you really want…" He got up to put his mug in the sink and proceeded to leave the kitchen. He stopped only to kiss Hermione on the head and say, "One day you'll regret turning me down."

Many weeks passed and Hermione finally announced at the traditional Sunday Weasley Dinner that she was now going steady with William Barnaby. Fred had been sitting across from her at the table when she made the announcement, and had to drop his fork in order to have an excuse to dive under the table so no one could witness the heartbreak on his face.

When he emerged, he smiled weakly to all the faces staring at him intently, before saying cheerfully,

"Who knew these things could slip out of ones hand so easily?" For the rest of the meal he remained very interested in his pasta, only daring to glance up at Hermione when he was certain she wasn't looking in his direction. However, toward the end of the meal he must have dropped his guard. He looked up to see Hermione smiling at him sadly, before resuming the conversation she was having with Ginny.

That night, Fred and Hermione both stayed at The Burrow as they had decided it would be easier than flooing back to their flat when they were both tired. Fred, however, was not tired at all. He lay in his bed in his and George's old bedroom, staring up at the ceiling for what seemed like an eternity. Had he imagined the sad look on Hermione's face? He groaned and rolled over. He thought he would have forgotten about the slight feelings he had for her by now. Surely they were only because of his jealousy towards William? But if he didn't have feelings for her, why would he be jealous? Maybe it was because George was now married and he was afraid of losing Hermione too? That must be it! No… that wasn't it.

He had known Hermione for over ten years and had been living with her for several. He had always feared this would happen. That he would fall for her. For the way her eyes gleamed when she was talking about her passions, or the way she would playfully tug his hair when they were sitting side by side on the couch. The way she cared so much for her friends and her family, even though she and her parents were no longer on speaking terms. He loved the way she would run and hug him, throwing her legs around his waist whenever he returned from a business trip. He loved Hermione Granger, and unfortunately, it took her dating another person for him to realise that. And now it was too late.


	2. Chapter 2

Fred woke the next morning feeling woozy. The previous night's events had left him unable to sleep, his mind buzzing as he tossed and turned through the night. Finally falling asleep as the sun began to rise, he had little over an hours rest before he needed to be up again to open the store with George. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, holding his head in his hands for a minute as his eyes adjusted to the light. He decided he had no choice, he had to win over Hermione or he would never be able to live with himself. He couldn't bare the fact that he was so close to losing her, and that there was so little time to make amends before she'd fall completely in love with Barnaby.

Racing down the stairs, taking two at a time, Fred bounced into the kitchen, planting a slobbery kiss upon Hermione's head. Startled, she dropped her spoon into her cornflakes, causing milk to splash all over the table.

"Fred! What did you have to do that for?" Hermione rushed to clean up the mess on the table.

"Just trying to make you fall in love with me." He gave her a wink as he poured himself a coffee and raced back up the stairs.

Hermione frowned. Perhaps she had misheard what he said. Shrugging, she finished her cereal and headed upstairs to get ready for work. She had a big day ahead of her, followed by a date with William. She smiled, never had anyone made her feel like William did. No… that was a lie. Someone else had made her feel that way. But that was behind her now, she was with William and she was happy. She would not let anything or anyone jeopardise her relationship.

"Hermione?" Fingers snapped before her eyes, and her attention was brought back to reality.

"William! Sorry, you said something?" Running her fingers through her hair, she took a deep breath and smiled at her boyfriend.

"I asked if you wanted to come back to my place after dinner, we could watch cheesy Muggle movies and snuggle together on the couch?"

Hermione bit her lip and gazed at William. Why did she have a nagging feeling that by agreeing to something like this, she would be cheating on Fred? He had been acting strangely ever since she had announced she was going steady with William, of which over a week had passed. She remembered the first night she had gone out with William, after she met him at work. Fred had tried to hold her back and keep her from going out, even offering to take her out himself. Over the weeks she had concluded that Fred was only feeling as he was because he didn't have George around 24/7 anymore and Hermione was his next option. Still, she hadn't hung out with him properly in awhile and she felt perhaps that she needed to.

Taking hold of William's hand, she smiled and gazed into his eyes.

"I have some things I need to take care of tonight sweetheart, but I promise you tomorrow night we can do that, and we can have popcorn and wine, everything you'd like, okay?" She picked up her purse and stood up.

"I have to be heading home now, I'll owl you later." Giving him a quick peck on the cheek, she left the restaurant and apparated back to her flat. When she arrived in the living room, she found Fred asleep on the couch. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she made a beeline for her room and quickly shut the door behind her. What was she doing blowing off William for Fred like that? Checking the time on her watch, she realised it was still early in the evening and she could still message Will before she went to bed. She sat down at her writing desk and pulled out a spare piece of parchment, scrawling a quick note before sending it off into the night on the leg of her owl.

Hermione's mind was buzzing with thought. This wasn't right.

Fred woke with a thump, having rolled off the couch onto the living room floor. That was the sixth night in a row that he had fallen asleep on the couch while reading Hermione's magazines. All his nights had been restless, unable to shake the thought of Hermione with another man. Not that she had ever been his.

He could hear rain on the windows and decided that he wouldn't be able to fall back asleep anytime soon, and so decided to make himself a cup of tea. He had been avoiding Hermione for the better part of a week, although with the amount of time she was spending away from the flat it wasn't exactly a difficult job.

"Fred?" He jumped as he heard the sugary voice of Hermione from doorway.

"Hi." He said breathlessly. She had him trapped.

"What are you doing awake? It's 3 o'clock in the morning!" She shuffled over towards him and tugged on his ear.

"I couldn't sleep." She smiled at him.

"Seems like you were sleeping beauty on the couch earlier…"

"I err- couldn't get back to sleep, I fell off the couch." He felt slightly abashed admitting this. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful Hermione looked in the moonlight, her brunette hair in a messy plait, her big brown eyes staring into his blue, her pale skin looking flawless as ever. He had to do it. He had to kiss her.

He took a small step towards her and tilted her chin up. He was sure she knew what he was about to do, and if he wasn't mistaken, she looked like she wanted him to do it too. He leaned forward.

"Fred, I can't." He stopped dead, his heart hammering.

"Hermione…" He placed the look on her face as somewhere between sadness and guilt.

"I think, I think I should go back to bed. Goodnight, Fred."

Breathing heavily, he watched as she walked back towards her room. Although she couldn't see it, his heart had crushed the moment had she walked away. Making a quick decision, he wrote a quick note on a piece of parchment and sent it off with his owl into the night.


End file.
